It's good, but for top-of-the-line I expect much more
Written: Nov 02 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: lightweight, portable network built-in, DVD
Cons: fragile, buggy, bad sound.
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| Naughtius's Full Review: Compaq Armada M700 (226480-001) PC Notebook |
To finish my series of computers I work with daily, here's my take on the M700 offering from Compaq. Bear in mind, I have just recently finished reformatting one to redistribute to a member of my executive staff.
The M700 is one of the premier lightweight Armada designs, aimed toward the high-end executive computer user. It has several features going for it: lightweight, compact, with great features available for both desktop and portable use. The model I have been working with has a built-in network port as well as a modem, so for the busy executive/end user who needs to work out of different offices from time to time, this feature would be a godsend.
The physical layout of the machine is good, if uninspired. Gone is the functionality of earlier models, like the Armada 1750's dual bays allowing both CD/DVD and floppy. There is one available multi-bay on the M700, so it's either floppy, or CD. This can be problematic for the technician, but not so much for the user. It probably only means you will need to carry more devices externally rather than having them conveniently parked in your computer housing. Keyboard response is good, albeit a bit flimsy feeling. The display is crisp (for LCD) and relatively free of problems. While I am not a big fan of the TouchPad mouse, the M700's was adequate, and responded well. It was also relatively simple to upgrade memory, as the keyboard can be removed without tools to access some motherboard resources.
However, I am less than pleased with several aspects of the M700. The BIOS password scheme leaves something to be desired, and some of the components fail easily. Compaq also does not support this model very well as far as getting a hold of backup drivers and software is concerned. The sound quality is very bad. There are a few other minor issues, but these are the ones that concern me the most.
First, the BIOS. As many of you know, most computer companies offer the added "feature" of being able to lock your machine down in the most basic level of your computer, the BIOS. Compaq offers this as well. However, with most BIOS equipment, resetting the password often involves changing a jumper setting in order to reset the password. Compaq has not added this feature. The only way to reset the BIOS password is to remove both power and the BIOS battery itself for several minutes in order to clear the password. This is a very lengthy process. For those of you that think this is a good thing, remember that BIOS passwords are only good to stop the less educated computer user, so the added security for such a password is negligible. Therefore, Compaq scores a little lower with this one. And believe me, I looked for jumpers all over that bad boy...
Components are another problem. In order to slim down laptops, many companies (including Compaq) have to move away from standard power and data cable design and look for something more streamlined, hence the ribbon cable. These cables are able to support most of the same features as regular cable, but are the thickness of a sheet of paper. Needless to say, that while lightweight and easy to pack into small places, they can be extremely fragile. The problem with the M700 is that they use so blasted many... The machine's parts are placed in a seemingly random order, and the sheer amount of ribbon cable packed into this machine leads me to believe some sort of minor failure means your laptop's bound to take a trip to CompaqComputerRepairLand, for a rather expensive repair. Some of the external (MultiBay) devices are fragile as well. I have had to replace floppy drives twice for this model, but whether this was due to poor design or user abuse I don't know.
Rather than go on another rant about SoftPaqs *shudder*, I will simply say that the compaq.com support sites often only offer basic software upgrades. The M700's page is easier to navigate than older Armada models, but it's still a crapshoot to see if you get the correct one for your machine. However, Compaq has assured me that they are working to offer better software support, and the customer service reps I have spoken with recently have made this less of an issue as it has been before.
In conclusion, this machine is a good one, but has some problems that people should be wary of. Yes, it has DVD capabilities, as well as many nice features such as built-in network, but with the lightweight design comes definite drawbacks. If you are hard on your machines, look for a more stable, heavier model (Dell or earlier Armada models), or you'll be spending a lot of time in the repair shop.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Naughtius
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Location: Perry, UT
Reviews written: 79
Trusted by: 13 members
About Me:
I write, you critique, I ignore. Lather, rinse, repeat.
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